Conference Title, Playoff Seed on the Line Friday

SALISBURY, N.C. -- The key to Friday night's North Piedmont 3A match-up between host East Rowan and visiting Statesville is the run game. The Mustangs like to ground and pound and the Hounds say they need to stop it if they're to come away with a victory.

East Rowan senior running back/safety Christian Bennett said running the ball is what the Mustangs do.

Both teams are 3-1 in conference play.

East Rowan takes on Statesville Friday night at 7:30.

"We have to stop the running back," said Statesville Head Coach Randall Gusler. "We've had several games where we held our opponents to under a 100 yards rushing."

East Rowan senior running back/safety Christian Bennett said running the ball is what the Mustangs do. "It's the majority of our offense. We pound it down their throats every day all day."

Both teams are 3-1 in conference play and with this game the last of the regular season, a win will mean a share of the conference title and a better playoff seed.

"I'm not going to have to worry about getting them jacked up for this game, they're going to be jacked up for this game because of the implications of it," said East Rowan Head Coach John Fitz.

Added Gusler, "You know if you're top two in the conference you automatically get seeded higher (in NCHSAA Playoffs) compared to being a wild card coming in. So, yeah, it has a lot of playoff implications on it."

East Rowan takes on Statesville Friday night at 7:30. You can watch a complete recap of the game on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Friday Night Final at 11 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday on Spectrum News.